Heel attachment device



June 26, 1955 E. G. DESCHENES 2,

HEEL ATTACHMENT DEVICE Filed Feb. 19, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN TOR. EDWARD G. DESCHENES ATTORIVE'YS June 26, 1956 E. G. DESCHENES HEEL ATTACHMENT DEVICE Filed Feb. 19, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 2:3 202 20a 20a zoo a0! INVENTOR. a /J r EDWARD a. DESCHEJV'ES' BY am an 203 p am/saw P W a 207 205 g, 13, ATTORNEYS United States Patent HEEL ATTACHMENT DEVICE Edward G. Deschenes, Lowell, Mass.

Application February 19, 1954, Serial No. 411,326

7 Claims. (CI. 36-36) This invention relates to an improved snap-on fastening device for attaching heels, heel lifts and the like to the bottom of a shoe.

Heretofore, snap fasteners of various constructions have been proposed for attaching heels to shoes, but generally the object of such devices has been to permit the snappingofi of the heel as well as snapping it into place on the shoe. Inasmuch as shoe wearers tend sometimes to scufl their feet on objects in their path, a disadvantage of ,such devices has been that the heel may snap off when not desired, especially after the metal .or rubber fasteners thereof become worn or the material fatigued. Many proposed snap fasteners have an added disadvantage in that they require a recess extending upwardly from the bottom face of the shoe and the joining mechanism is usually located in such a recess above the upper face of the heel or heel lift. Thus impact on the exterior of the vertical wall of the heel, as by scuffing, transmits powerful leverage to the fastener mechanism and causes the heel to be inadvertently unfastened. In addition, many such devices have required complicated expensive parts and numerous operations of manufacture thereby precluding their adoption by manufacturers in the trade.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an improved snap-on fastener for heels which requires only a single male member and a single .female member, both easily formable from metal and capable of fastening the heel tightly entirely around its entire periphery.

Another object of the invention is to provide a male member formed of a single cup shaped piece of metal easily anchored to the bottom of a shoe and having an anchoring shoulder of closed polygonal outline substantially entirely around the rim thereof in a plane spaced below the plane of the bottom face of the shoe.

A further object of the invention is to provide a female member formed of a single piece of metal partially .irnbedded in the heel at an intermediate level thereof and extending completely around the peripheral section of the heel in a loop .of similar closed polygonal outline to form shoulders in the female member for anchoring on the shoulders of the male member.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a snap-on fastening device which permits the manufacturer to snap heels into place on shoes by pressure applied to the undersurface of the heel but which thereafter requires special machinery or a special combination of pressures to permit the removal thereof.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a heel of flexible material having a continuous closed, polygonal loop of wire centrally disposed therein as a means of fastening the same to a shoe, together with integral extensions on the loop for tightly pressing the opposite forward corners of the heels against the shoe.

A further object of the invention is to provide a continuous, closed polygonal loop of resilient wire imbedded in a .heel of resilient material as a snap fastener member together with washer or subordinate loop means on the wire and access apertures thereto in the heel for providing 2,751,694 -Pa'tented June 26, 1956 2 a grip for mechanism used in spreading the heel and wire during removal.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent in the course of the following description.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a top view of a heel with the female member of my fastening device imbedded therein.

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of a sole with the male member of my fastening device fixed therein, parts being broken away for illustration.

Fig. 3 is a side view in section on line 33 of Fig. i.

Fig. 4 is a side view in section on line 44 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a side view in section similar to Figs. 3 and 4 showing a heel being applied to a sole in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing a heel locked on a sole in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the male member .of the invention as it may be applied to a leather sole.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. lof another embodiment of the female member of the invention. 7

Fig, 9 is a view similar to Fig. '2 of another embodiment of the male member of the invention.

Fig. 10 is a side view in section :showing the fastening members of Figs. 8 and 9 connected together, and

Fig. ll is a view similar to Fig. .10 showing another way of'affixing the male member of the invention to the bottom of a shoe.

Fig. 12 is a view similar to Figs. 1 and 8 showing the female fastener :of' my invention as it may be applied to a leather heel. t

- Fig. 13 is a view similar to Fig. '4 and Fig. 7 showing a modification of the male member of my device on a sole and being applied to a shoe.

' As shown in Figs. .1-6 the preferred form of the snapon heel device of this invention includes a tread member such as the heel A, a female fastening means B and .a male fastening means C. It will be apparent that the invention may be used for attaching a heel lift to a heel or attaching a tread portion of a heel to a fixed portion of a heel and that the heel and sole shown in the drawings are merely illustrative of one embodiment of the invention. In general, the portion of a shoe to which the male fastener of the invention is affixed is called herein the heel portion :of the shoe, intending thereby to include the heel portion of a sole, the lower face of a high heel and the like.

The .male fastening means C is formed of a single piece of sheet metal fixed to the heel portion of the shoe such as 20, so that an external shoulder '21 thereon protrudes a spaced distance below the under face 22 of the heel portion 20. The external shoulder 21 outlines a polygonal, multi straight sided figure or loop enclosing an area at least equal to approximately half the area of heel A and the plane of the shoulder is parallel to the plane of underface 22 of heel portion 20.

Male fastening means C is cup shaped with a fiat bottom 23 from which integral side walls 24, 25, 26 and 27 are upturned and with the external "shoulder 21 formed in the terminal edge portion of the .side walls which form the .rim or mouth of the cup.

Preferably also a similar external shoulder 28 is formed around the :fiat bottom 23 and .flush prongs such as .29 are .formed in the bottom 23 for a purpose to be hereinafter described. While the side walls and shoulder of male fastening means C could be continuous, it is preferred that they be disconnected by leaving apertures therebetween as at the corners 30, 31, 32 and 33. Rather than .being resilient, it is preferredfthat the sheet metal of the walls 24, 25, 26 and 27 be comparatively rigid .and not easily bendable. Thus when a heel is attached therearound, the walls of the male fastening means C do not compress or yield upon the impact of the heel with an object and there is no tendency for the snapped-on heel to snap off. Since the shoulder 21 projects below the under face 22, and thus extends down into a heel attached thereon, a comparatively rigid anchor is provided within the heel and well down toward the level at which most impacts on the heel are located. Where the heel portion 20 of the shoe is to be of rubber or other molded ma terial, it is preferred that the male fastening means C be molded into the rubber with its fiat bottom 23 about intermediate of the thickness of the sole. No holes are thus made for the leakage of water. One or more perforations such as at 34 may be formed in the fiat bottom 23 in order to provide webs of the molded material through the bottom 23 and thus anchor the same more firmly against pulling out. In Figs. l.7 male fastener means C and female fastener means B both outline a closed polygonal figure that is quadrilateral and square, the figures having straight sides in order that the attachment shoulders or the heel may be well seated, for their full length, on the anchoring shoulders on the shoe. It is to be noted that the heel is thus secured at points all around its outer peripheral section including the middle of the forward portion where scuffing is most likely to occur.

The heel A is preferably of rubber, plastic or similar molded resilient material and includes the usual curved rear wall 35, forward corners 36 and 37 and upper face 38. A recess 39 is formed in the upper face 38 during the molding of the heel, and conforming in outline to the shape of the external shoulder or shoulders of the male fastening means C. Recess 39 is of sufficient depth to freely accommodate the shoulder 21 and walls 24, 25, 26 and 27 depending on the distance the shoulder 21 is spaced below the under face 22 of the heel portion 20. Recess 39 may be only a groove extending around the heel A for receiving shoulder 21 and walls 24, 25, 26 and 27 but preferably is of uniform depth over its entire area as shown to form an air cushion, space 40. The inner wall 41 of recess 39 is preferably vertical and its height may be about half the thickness of the heel or considerably less as shown in succeeding views.

The female fastening means B is preferably formed of a single continuous piece of resilient wire material of uniform diameter. Means B is shaped in a closed polygonal loop 42 which conforms to the polygonal outline of the external shoulder 21 and of the inner wall 41 of recess 39.

sures tending to snap 01f the heel. However, upon sufficient wear, or to correct a mistaken application of the wrong heel, heel A may be removed by the insertion of a spreading instrument in the aperture 53 which extends inwardly from the bottom face of the heel. Outward and forward pressure between the terminal end portions 50 and 51 will cause the fastening means B to spread and be released first from the forward part of shoulder 21 and then from the remaining part thereof.

As indicated in Fig. 7, instead of embedding the means C into the sole of a shoe, the flush prongs 29 may be bent upwardly and the means C attached thereby. Thus the means C may be attached to a leather sole 55 still without perforating the sole to cause leaks. The recess 39 in heel A would of course be deepened to accommodate a fastening means C attached in this manner, or the side walls 24-27 can be made of less height.

In Figs. 8 and 10, a heel 60 is shown, having a polygonal recess 61 outlined by the straight side walls such as 62 which conform to the exterior shape of the heel and define a multiple straight sided figure. Recess 61 is a shallow groove of sufficient depth and width to just accommodate the internal and external shoulders of the fastening means and the walls of the male fastening means. By making the recess as shallow as possible, the heel may obviously be further worn down before requiring replacement. The female fastening member 63 is formed by a loop of resilient wire conforming to the shape of the recess 61. Small closed loops such as 64, 65 are formed at spaced distances around the member 63 at about the same location as would be the nails and washers of former heel construction. The small loops 66 and 67 at the ends of means 63 may be forced apart by inserting a spreading instrument therebetween ing a plurality of prongs in each of the apertures and simultaneously moving them all outwardly with great force, the heel 60 may be removed. A male fastening member 70 is shown in Fig. 9, suitable for use with the heel 60, recess 61 and female member 63. Member 70 is provided with an external shoulder 71, a similar Small looped portions 43, 44 and of the multi straight sided loop 42 extend outwardly therefrom into the ma terial of heel A and are firmly embedded therein by molding or otherwise. Portions 46, 47, 48 and 49 of loop 42 extend around the inner wall 41 of recess 39, preferably at the angular corners and preferably in contact with the inner wall to form an internal shoulder which lines the recess 39. Preferably, the two terminal end portions and 51 of loop 42 extend from the longitudinal centre line toward the corners 36 and 37 of the heel to hold the corners tightly against the heel portion of a shoe.

The heel A shown in Fig. 1 is of the concave type and as shown in Fig. 5, is preferably applied to the heel portion 20 by first pressing and distorting the rubber of the heel to fiat or slightly convex shape until the internal shoulders 46 and 49 are engaged above the external shoulder 21 of male fastening means C. Considerablev pressure is then applied to the bottom rear of heel A to cause the resilient wire of means B and the resilient rubber of heel A to flex and the internal shoulders of means B to snap over the external shoulders of means C. The originally concave heel A is thus held flatwise against the heel portion 20 all around its periphery and at its corners 36 and 37. Since the loop 42 is not free floating but is embedded in the resilient material of the heel, the inherent resilience thereof constantly opposes any presshoulder 72 and a flat bottom 73 and, as shown, may be attached to the heel portion 74 of a shoe by passing the flange 71 and its supporting wall 75 through suitable slots such as 76.

As indicated in Fig. 10 the small loops such as 64, 65, 66 and 67 of member 63 are bent downwardly to secure a firmer grip when embedded in the material of heel 60. The internal shoulder portions such as 77 of female member 63 are thus enabled to be at the top of the recess 61,

' thereby permitting more wear on the heel, but not providing as strong a structure as in the preferred embodiment wherein the small loops 43, 44 and 45 are embedded parallel to the lower face of the heel.

In Fig. 11 a male member similar to member C is shown applied to the heel portion 101 of a shoe in inverted position, the member 100 having a shoulder 102 similar to shoulder 21 and a shoulder 103 similar to shoulder 28. The side walls 104 of member 100 as well as the shoulder 102 are imbedded in heel portion 101 while the shoulder 103 and flat bottom 105 project below the undersurface 106 of heel portion 101. Thus a rubber heel 103, having female fastening means 109 constructed in accordance with the invention may be snapped over the male member 100. By so inverting the member 100, the flat bottom 105 is positioned to contact the ground in case the heel wears down to an excessive degree before replacement and possible distortion of shoulders such as at 102 is avoided.

In Fig, 12 the invention is shown adapted to a leather I he'el 80. Such heels are usually made of laminations of leather since a single piece of the same is not thick enough to form a full heel. Between two adjacent leather layers, such as 31 and 82, a loop 83 of resilient wire in closed polygonal for -in is placed, the wire being preferably somewhat flattened rather than of round cross section. Since leather is not resilient, I prefer to provide small loops 84, 85, 86 and 87 at the corners of loop 83 and to have elongated straight stretches 88, 89, 90 and 91 between the corners. various layers of leather to form a recess 92 for receiving the external shoulders such as 93 shown in dotted lines, of a male member similar to male fastening means C, The straight stretches 88, 89, 90 and 91 are spaced from the inner wall 94 of recess 92 to provide room for the flexing thereof when the heel is snapped into place. The layers of leather may be fastened together in any well known manner, such as by adhesive, nails or the like to firmly imbed the corner loops 84, 85, 86 and 87 of loop 83 therein. The ends 96 and 97 of loop 83 are bent outwardly and also imbedded between the layers of leather as shown.

In Fig. 13 a modified form of male member 200 is shown attached to a sole 201 and having a shoulder 202 and a shoulder 203 similar to shoulders 21 and 28 of member C. An integral tongue 205 extends substantially horizontally from the bottom 206 the tongue 205 being preferably of narrow width and provided with a blunt end 207. The rear portion of a shoe 210 is illustrated as having a shank 211 around which the upper 212 is bent and secured by stitching or other well known means to form a peripheral strip 213 outlining what is called the heel seat 214. To properly position sole 201 so that when trimmed it will properly position member 200 to receive a female fastening member and a heel, the tongue 205 is inserted under strip 213 until the blunt end 207 contacts the inner surface of upper 212 as at 215. Thus when the sole is trimmed to fit the upper and the heel snapped thereon, the heel will need little trimming and will be correctly positioned. The shoulders 72 of a device such as member 70, may be arranged to abut on the inner edges of a heel seat such as" 214 where a separate tongue 205 is not provided and positioning of the sole on the shoe is desired during manufacturing.

I claim:

1. In a shoe, an inverted, cup shaped, male fastening member of rigid material for retaining a heel tread member on said shoe, said male member having a fiat bottom adapted to be securely attached centrally of the heel portion of the shoe sole and having integral, downwardly bent, vertical side walls extending laterally across the front and back, and longitudinally along opposite sides of a central area of said heel portion, all of said side walls terminating in an outwardly turned anchoring shoulder located in a plane parallel to, and spaced below, the planes of said plate bottom and of the lower face of said sole and all of said shoulders outlining a closed polygonal figure having at least four straight sides extending entirely around said male member; a shoe heel tread member having a recess in its upper face conforming in outline to the closed polygonal, figure defined by said shoulders and adapted to receive the same when the upper face of said heel is flatwise against the lower face of said sole, and a resilient wire, female fastening member for forming attachment shoulders extending entirely around the recess in said shoe heel tread member adapted to snap on, but not snap off, said anchoring shoulder, said female member outlining a closed polygonal figure with at least four straight sides extending inwardly into said recess for attachment engagement on said anchoring shoulders entirely around said male member and said female fastening member having outwardly bent portions at spaced distances entirely therearound firmly embedded in the material of said heel tread member surrounding said recess.

2. A shoe as specified in claim 1 wherein the outwardly bent portions of said female fastening member are Suitable openings are cut in the downturned below the plane of the straight attachment shoulder portions thereof for enabling said shoulders to be in a plane just below the plane of the lower face of the shoe sole while said outwardly bent and downturned portions are embedded in planes of said heel tread member therebelow.

3. A shoe as specified in claim 1 wherein the outwardly bent portions of said wire female fastening member includes such portions at the front centre and at the opposite front corners of said heel tread member firmly em bedded therein whereby the front anchoring shoulder retains the entire front portion of the heel tread member on said male fastening member.

4. A shoe as specified in claim 1 wherein said inverted cup shaped male fastening member includes a central aperture in the bottom thereof and apertures at the meeting corners of the walls thereof and said bottom is embedded in the material of the heel portion of the shoe sole with only the anchoring shoulder portion thereof projecting below the plane of the bottom face of said sole.

5. A shoe as specified in claim 1 wherein said wire, female fastening member, outlines a closed polygonal figure, but is adapted to be expanded laterally at one point therearound and a tool guide aperture is provided in the material of said heel tread member leading from said point to an outer face of said heel tread member, for enabling insertion of a tool to spread said member.

6. A heel tread member adapted to be snap fastened on a male fastening member carried by a shoe, said heel tread member having a recess in the upper face thereof outlining a closed polygonal figure with at least four straight side walls each in one of the quadrants therearound, and a resilient, continuous wire female fastening member conforming in shape to the closed polygonal figure outline by the straight walls of said recess and extending peripherally entirely therearound, said wire female fastening member having a straight stretch projecting inwardly into said recess and along each of said straight side walls to form attachment shoulders cooperable with said male fastening member and having outwardly and downwardly bent portions in each of the four quadrants around said recess embedded in the material of said heel tread member.

7. A male fastening member adapted to retain a heel tread member on a shoe, said male fastening member comprising a one piece, cup shaped body of rigid, non-yieldable, sheet material, having a fiat bottom of closed polygonal outline formed by at least four straight sides, each in one of the quadrants around said bottom, at least four integral, straight vertical side walls bent at right angles from the sides of said bottom and at least four out-turned shoulders formed at the terminal edges of said side walls, said shoulders outlining a closed polygonal figure in a plane parallel to, and spaced from the plane of said bottom for providing support to a heel tread member in each quadrant around said bottom and said bottom and walls having apertures therethrough for enabling said body to be firmly embedded in a moldable shoe sole during molding thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 947,353 Rouse Jan. 25, 1910 1,342,291 Kay June 1, 1920 1,542,602 Buckner June 16, 1925 1,551,345 Thomasian Aug. 25, 1925 1,668,980 Schmidt May 8, 1928 2,009,876 Dahlin July 30, 1935 2,065,325 Calhoun Dec. 22, 1936 2,076,978 Butler Apr. 13, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS 448,241 Germany Aug. 13, 1927 

